POSITIVES FOR MARTIN

Martin Jol took plenty of positives out of our 2-1 victory against Ligue 1 runners-up Bordeaux in France on Thursday night.

Martin Jol took plenty of positives out of our 2-1 victory against Ligue 1 runners-up Bordeaux in France on Thursday night.

Kieran McKennaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s late header secured the victory in our first pre-season friendly of the campaign after Jermain Defoe opened the scoring in the first half. Johan Micou levelled for Bordeaux just before the break.

Newcomers Dimitar Berbatov and Benoit Assou-Ekotto both made their first starts for us in Albertville.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The most important thing was to get 90 minutes under our belts,Ã¢â‚¬Â reflected boss Martin. Ã¢â‚¬Å“Bordeaux started pre-season at the end of June and that was always going to be a problem for us because weÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve trained hard, but we did well.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“You want to go out, play good football and get a good result but that is not the main thing, preparation time is.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“It was good to see Benoit adjusting when we played with three in the centre of defence (from a 4-4-2) in the second half. HeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s quick, dynamic and he has to cope with the English game but I think he will do that.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“Berbatov is a stylish striker who will score goals. We were a little tired in the second half and that meant we couldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t really create enough for him because he will always be on the end of attacks.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“The main thing was to keep our shape and get through the game and if you have a good result as well itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s always handy for the confidence, especially for the younger lads.Ã¢â‚¬Â

Martin had praise for striker Jermain who has come back into training firing on all cylinders after the disappointment of missing out on the World Cup with England.

He scored a typical Defoe goal - picking up the ball from Danny Murphy, working a yard of space and drilling home from the edge of the box.

Martin added: Ã¢â‚¬Å“Jermain started training with us on Monday, just three days ago, so I was pleased for him. I know if he faces onto goal, five out of 10 itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s a goal. HeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s back and the first thing he did was score a goal.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“It was also great to see Kieran score a goal. HeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s one for the future and thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s why itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s good for him. He has an amazing mentality and heÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s so fit. The same applies to Jamie OÃ¢â‚¬â„¢Hara, another great talent.Ã¢â‚¬Â